LGBT culture in Chengdu

There is an active LGBT community in Chengdu, Sichuan, China.

After 1997, when laws against LGBT activity were scuttled, LGBT individuals who felt uncomfortable with their hometowns settled in Chengdu. In 2018 Mark Ellwood of Condé Nast Traveler wrote that Chengdu had both lesbian and gay male clubs, and that it had a higher percentage of self-identified LGBT people than some of the country's more populous cities. Millennials,[1] as of 2017, used the name "Gaydu" to refer to Chengdu.[2] Peter Hessler stated that the LGBT culture "would have been unimaginable during" the 1990s, when he taught in China.[3]

According to Sixth Tone drag shows were initially perceived as the main specialty of Chengdu's LGBT community.[4]

History

In 2016, the cofounder of the LGBTQ advocacy group Milks Friends a.k.a. Mr. Milk & Her LGBTI Friends, argued that Chengdu had the same level of LGBTQ tolerance seen in Beijing and Shanghai.[5]

In October 2020, after there were accusations of parties in which people engaged in sexual activity and after photographs of events with sexual undertones surfaced, the authorities forced a nightclub called MC Club to close. Agence France Presse and Jiji Press stated that subsequently "The mood in Chengdu started to sour".[6]

In 2021, in light of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) putting restrictions on activities by LGBT groups, an activist with Chengdu Rainbow, a non-governmental organization, stated that LGBT people in the city focus on minor steps rather than large steps, and that "There is some tacit acceptance by the authorities, but it is very delicate".[6]

References
  1. Ellwood, Mark (2018-06-13). "How Chengdu Became China's Most Inclusive City". Condé Nast Traveler. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  2. "LGBT conference in China's 'gay capital' scuppered". Reuters. 2017-07-21. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  3. Hessler, Peter (2020-03-16). "The Peace Corps Breaks Ties with China". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
  4. Qian, Jinghua (2016-11-08). "Chengdu, the Questionable Queer Capital of China". Sixth Tone. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
  5. Qian, Jinghua (2016-11-08). "Chengdu, the Questionable Queer Capital of China". Sixth Tone. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
  6. "Chengdu, China's permissive 'gay capital,' refusing to fold". The Japan Times. Agence France Presse/Jiji Press. 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-08-27.. Other postings: "Chengdu: China's permissive 'gay capital' refusing to fold". The Korea Times. 31 December 2020., "China's gay capital Chengdu forced to adapt as government shuts down venues and probes NGOs". South China Morning Post. 2021-01-02.
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